Natural Whetstones
Natural Whetstones
Our range of natural whetstones are source from the best mines including Ohira, Okuda, Nakayama, Shinden Narutaki and more. Many of the whetstones found in our collection are from mines that have since been closed making these pieces very rare.
Each natural whetstone is different, unlike synthetic whetstones, with variations in size, grit, and overall shape. These stones are super finishing or polishing stones. Since they are natural stones, they don’t have a specific grit. The particles in artificial whetstone do not break down to smaller sizes. However, Natural whetstone particles do, and those particles are mixed with steel particles to make a slurry. This slurry is what actually sharpens or polishes your blade. With experience the slurry can be adjusted to suite your desired effect. However, each stone has its limitations depending on hardness fineness.
Our advice is to invest in a good set of synthetic whetstones ranging through #400, #1000, #3000 for repair, sharpening and scratch refinement. You would then progress to these natural finishing stones.